Journalist detained briefly in the Maldives

Sun
Media reported that one of its journalists was briefly detained by
police for photographing a government building in Malé, the capital, on March
26, 2013. The media group is based in the Maldives and covers local and world
news for online, print, and radio.

Officers
told Ahmed Azif that he could not photograph the Justice Building without
showing his press credentials, Sun Media reported.
Azif said he showed the police his press card, but that he was taken to the police
station in Henveyru, a neighborhood in the capital, where he was asked to sign
a statement saying he had been arrested for obstructing police duties.

According
to Sun Media, it is not illegal to photograph the Justice Building in the
capital.

Azif
was released from the station a few hours later. Police did not offer any
details about his brief detention, reports said.